Maidstone Borough Council has introduced a new project to improve the greening and lighting in the town centre.

 Work has started on Jubilee and Remembrance Squares, with paved areas being replaced with permanent planting which will enhance the appearance of the Hight Street and improve biodiversity. 

 The Council’s Greening and Lighting project will include planting, be concentrated around the existing trees and seating in the Squares to create a more tranquil environment for visitors to the town to stop and enjoy and native planting will be used to attract bees and insects.

 To further enhance biodiversity and create green corridors through the town centre, MBC is also installing 19 Living Pillars in the High Street; an innovative design which attaches planting, along with insect and bird boxes around street lighting columns. The pillars are solar powered with re-circulating irrigation, and are a sustainable solution to the challenges of planting in our streets. 

 Improved lighting is also being introduced to re-engage people with hidden parts of a town and turn underused areas into new outdoor social spaces which will be safe, attractive, and inclusive.  The Council has identified a number of areas to be improved.  The aim is to create a safe trail, connecting areas where people can follow areas of interest along both sides of the river nearest to the town centre.

 MBC Cabinet Member for Environmental Services and Enforcement, Cllr Clive English:  “We are pleased to get work started on the Greening and Lighting Project and improve the town centre.  This will help make it a safer, pleasant and more attractive place for everyone to enjoy.”

 MBC is also working with consultants to develop a lighting scheme that will repair and bring back into working order existing lighting assets, and provide enhancements to lighting. This will include downlighters, a central management system along with restoration and replacement of existing lighting.  Areas being looked at include Brenchley Gardens, Week Street, Gabriels Hill, Archbishops Palace and gardens across the Millennium Bridge to Lockmeadow.

 Cllr Mike Summersgill, MBC Cabinet Member for Climate Transition and Nature Recovery added: “Projects like this help to create not only a more tranquil space but enhance the appearance of our town centre whilst encouraging biodiversity at the same time.”

 Other green initiatives are planned over the next few years by the Council as further funding becomes available to extend biodiversity corridors along Week Street towards Brenchley Gardens and down Earl Street to the River Medway.

 MBC was awarded £400,000 by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to develop and progress a Greening and Lighting Strategy for the Town centre.